Double (Sized) Standards?

Thanks for the Memory to Lars Larson.

Ore. court rules Eagles must allow women members

SALEM -- A state anti-discrimination law requires that Eagles clubs allow women to join, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday in a decision with little practical impact now that the organization permits membership by both sexes.

The rest can be read at the link. The quote that caught my eye was this one:

In 2-1 ruling, an appeals court panel said the law against sex discrimination in public accommodations applies to the Fraternal Order of Eagles because it operates as a business and basically offers services to the public.

So my question is, what are the odds they'll apply the same standard to Women Only businesses like Curves?

Smug by Proxy

A year ago today, a new blog was born, run by an astute 16-year-old and titled The Political Teen. As one of HIS readers pointed out, in his first month online, I linked to him, with high praise.

I wasn't alone, and thanks to his own writing skills and intelligence and the attentoin of some blogosphere bigwigs, he has far outstripped my own humble readership.

Happy Blogoversary, PT. I'm proud to say I was among the first to regonize your potential. Keep up the good work, and many happy returns.

Give 'Til It DOESN'T Hurt!

At the spa where The Feared Redhead works sit a flyer and business cards for a fundraiser for a young Eugene girl. Here is her story:

The cute little girl... ...is now three years old. She was born with a massive malformation of the lymph glands on the right side of her neck. It is so invasive that it has wrapped itself around her windpipe. For the first year she was required to have a tracheal tube just to be able to breath. Injections of a special solution known as OK432 reduced the mass sufficiently to safely remove the trach. However, surgery is absolutely necessary to remove what is left since it continues to compromise her airway and produces other medical complications. The surgery will be performed by a world-renowned doctor in New York in November. However, insurance will not pay about $40,000 of the total cost. So, we are asking people to donate to a fund set up by Heart For The Homeless a non-profit organization located in Portland, Oregon. The fund is titled JACQUI'S FUND. You may contribute directly through USBANCORP to "JACQUI'S FUND." Or you may send a contribution to Heart for The Homeless, ATTN: Jacqui's Fund, 21085 NW Rock Creek Blvd., Portland, OR 97229, earmarking it for Jacqui's Fund. Contributions are tax-deductible. Checks and money orders may be made payable to "Jacqui's Fund." If you have questions, simply contact me, Jerry Propst, through the comment portion of this blog and I will do my best to answer your questions.

That's directly from the blog Jacqui's grandfather has set up. I'm asking all my readers to thoughtfully, prayerfully consider giving to help Jacqui. In addition, Jacqui's dad mentions that he needs help setting up a paypal button for donations. If any of you are adept at that sort of thing, please help him out.

We can do this, people. They're about halfway there already. Let's show them how much heart the blogosphere has.

Slippery Slopes in the Cascades

Here's the dilemma I face as both an Oregonian and a Non-Idiotarian: Pride in my home state, its natural beauty and pioneer spirit; and embarassment for my home state, its extreme politics and stupid government.

Here's what we're now famous for: Not our rugged coast, our majestic mountains, our lush forests; not Lewis and Clark, mountain men, the Oregon Trail. No, when people think of Oregon, they immediately think of Legalized Pot, Assisted Suicide, and now, Live Sex Shows. I doubt that's exactly the definition of "Westward Ho!" the pioneers had in mind.

This is what Bill O'Reilly talked about night before last. This is what's being discussed in newspapers and media outlets across the country. We're rapidly overtaking California as the Granola State -- the nuttiest, flakiest place in the nation.

I'm used to hearing (L)ibertarians, libertarians, liberitines, and liberals to one extent or another tell us that what kinds of activities consenting adults engage in in the privacy of their own bedrooms is their own business.

But now the supreme court has extended the definition of "bedrooms" to include "Joe's Tavern". As I've hinted at before, once we've established that any given system of morality is not applicable as a basis for law, NO system of morality can maintain its applicability. Each time ground is given way, it becomes harder and harder to defend the ground that's left. I'm wondering how far they'll eventually go before people have had enough. Heck, we have homeless people sleeping in our parks and under overpasses, that makes them bedrooms too, right? How long will it be before the defense of sex acts in public as Freedom of Speech is applied to ANY public place, not just private businesses?

I'd leave, but I fear that once the idiots are done clearcutting decency and good sense here, they'll just come after the next place. This is as good a place to make a stand as any.

PETA's Red Herring

Thanks for the Memory to Moonbattery via Ace of Spades HQ.

I'm not going to bother to link to the PETA document itself, because I don't want to give them traffic and because you can find it from either of the two blog posts linked above.

PETA's latest tactic, apparently, is to try to use children to get their parents to stop hunting, fishing, or eating meat at all. And the way they are trying to accomplish this? By publishiing comic books that tell kids that their parents are, in effect, vicious psychopaths. One of the comics is called Your Daddy Kills Animals! that tells kids they should "Ask your Daddy why he's hooked on killing!", and warns them that:

Until your Daddy learns that it's not "fun" to kill, keep your doggies and kitties away from him. He's so hooked on killing defenseless animals that they could be next!

There's also a companion comic book that assails cooking meat called Your Mommy Kills Animals!

The folks at Moonbattery made note of the irony that the folks at PETA would warn you about doggies and kitties. It was not lost on me either.

People say that PETA is self-lampooning. I'd agree, except that the evil means to which they stoop, the willingness to mess with schoolchildrens' minds, to alienate them from their parents, are too frightening to be laughable.

DeLay Fuse

Thanks for the Memory to Ace of Spades.

I've reserved judgement regarding the indictments against Tom DeLay, beyond saying that I hoped justice would be done, whatever it is, and commenting at Naked Villainy, reminding Smallholder that DeLay isinnocent until proven guilty.

My friend Vulture Six, on the other hand, has been a staunch supporter of DeLay from the beginning. As a Texan and an active follower of state and national politics, he was convinced the charges were trumped up and politically motivated. He also has a very low opinion of DA Ronnie Earle -- an opinion that is not uncommon in Texas.

Well, it's looking more and morte like V6 was right.

I'll admit that I haven''t followed this issue as closely as many in the blogosphere, so this may come as no surprise to many of you, but here's what has come to light:

There have been three attempted indictments against DeLay.

His lawyer has moved for dismissal of the first, since, apparently, the activities for which DeLay has been indicted for, he engaged in in 2002, but they weren't illegal until 2003. Furthermore, Vulture Siz tells me that the Jury Foreman admitted to Radio Austin that the Grand Jury, which was comprised mostly of Democrats, had decided that they would indict DeLay before it had even heard the evidence.

The second indictment was for money laundering. The heart of this indictment is DeLay's handling of the funds in question AFTER they were raised, while the first had to do with the fundraising activities themselves. However, as an alert Ace reader points out, according to Texas Law, in order to constitute Money Laundering, the money handled has to be acquired illegally to begin with:

PENAL CODE

CHAPTER 34. MONEY LAUNDERING

§ 34.01. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:

§ 34.02. MONEY LAUNDERING. (a) A person commits an
offense if the person knowingly:
(1) acquires or maintains an interest in, receives,
conceals, possesses, transfers, or transports the proceeds of
criminal activity;
(2) conducts, supervises, or facilitates a
transaction involving the proceeds of criminal activity; or
(3) invests, expends, or receives, or offers to
invest, expend, or receive, the proceeds of criminal activity or
funds that the person believes are the proceeds of criminal
activity.

If the fundraising wasn't illegal, neither was the handling of the funds "Laundering".

As for the third indictment, the Grand Jury rejected it.

It would seem that once again, a rabid leftist has let his eagerness to damage a political enemy cause him to act far too hastily.

Maybe Earle should have talked to Dan Rather.

Pun Fun: The Homophonic Variation

Two penguins are rowing a canoe across the desert.

The lead penguin turns to the other penquin and says, "Where's your paddle?"

The second penguin replies, "It sure does!"

Bartending Blues

The other night I took it upon myself to surpise The (hard-working) Feared Redhead with a cocktail. But I wanted to do something new and interesting. Plus I knew if it succeeded, I could blog on it (she loves being my food & beverage guinea pig). I decided that the easiest way to try something new was the tried and true variation on a theme. So here's what I came up with:

The Blue Cosmopolitan
1 1/2 oz. vodka
1/2 oz. Blue Curacao
1/2 oz. lime juice
2 oz. white cranberry juice
1 cup ice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Cover, shake well*. Pour into a martini glass, garnish wth a lime wedge and lime twist.

It tastes almost exactly like a regular cosmo, and the bright blue color really messes with a regular cosmo drinker's perception of reality. I was tempted to call it the Playgirl, since it's a blue version of Cosmopolitan.

*For me, a shaken drink isn't shaken well unless frost, or at the least condensation, forms on the outside of the shaker.

Is Anyone Really Surprised?

Thanks for the Memory to Naked Villainy.

There was a time when I thoroughly bought into a way of thinking that utterly rejected the idea of a "Slippery Slope". I held the view that each and every decision was made on its own merit and had no causal relationship to any prior or subsequent decision. But I was wrong. I've seen the slippery slope at work far too many times to cling to that ill-informed belief.

Especially when it comes to moral, ethical, and legal issues. Once an allowance is made for any type of activity, it becomes easier, more acceptable, and more likely that we will make allowances for other activities of that type. A shift in degree is always a much easier obstacle to hurdle than one of type.

Case in point, the definition of Marriage. My own religious, moral, ethical, and political views regarding Same Sex Marriage are not well known, as I've never bothered to expound upon them. However, I will say this much: As I listen to the arguments in support of Same Sex Marriage, I have for some time made the observation that the defense of SSM can also be applied to Polygamy, Polyandry, Polyamory, or any number of domestic arrangements. Or to be more precise, the most commonly used and accepted arguments against limiting Marriage to heterosexual monogamy are just as valid as arguments against limiting Marriage to monogamy AT ALL.

And now I've been proven correct. The Netherlands, one of the countries on the cutting edge of Same Sex Marriage, has just permitted its first polygamous civil union.

Anyone who has really given this issue any thought can't be all that suprised. And I'll make a further prediction. Eventually, you'll see a concentrated effort to bring the same thing to the United States. And it won't just be bigamy. Eventually it will be two men marrying three women, two women marrying for men, two men marrying each other and a woman. Because really, if they all "love" each other, what's to keep them all from marrying each other?

I'll go one step further in my prediction. As these pressures are applied to redefine how many people can be married to each other at once, we'll start to see pressures to redefine how old they must be. the pressure's already there to accept sexual activity by younger and younger children. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is on record as supporting an age of consent of 12. And it won't be much of a leap for people to argue that if you're old enough to bed, you're old enough to wed.

The slippery slope exists. But at some point, very soon, it will cease to be a slope, and become a cliff. Let's all hope and pray we dig our pitons in before we get there.

My Choice for the Next SCOTUS Justice

(At Least According to the Quiz)

Thanks for the Memory to The Llama Butchers and Dave J at It Comes in Pints?


JUDGE PRISCILLA OWEN
U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, appointed by
G.W. Bush, 50 years old
Filibustered by Senate Democrats when nominated to
the federal bench, Owen is a former Texas
Supreme Court judge regarded as "far right
wing" by liberals. But who isn't! A
member of the Federalist Society. (Psycho
music) Sen. Reid has already said he would
filibuster her nomination to SCOTUS.


New World Man presents: My favorite candidate for the Supreme Court
brought to you by Quizilla

Different results from the other two blogs, equally unsurprising.

17th Chief Justice of The Supreme Court of the United States

John Glover Roberts Jr.

DeLay Indicted

He's maintaining his innocence. Here's hoping he gets a fair trial, and justice -- whichever result that means.

Mondo Calamari

Thanks for the Memory to Naked Villainy.

We knew it was going to happen, but didn't know when. Researchers have finally captured footage of a Giant Squid in the wild. It occurred off of Japan.

My best friend Lurch is, like me, an avid fan of marine biology, especially of marine mammals. However, while my favorite sea creatures are the pack hunters, dolphins and orcas, he finds the sperm whale more interesting, because it was for so long thought to be a solitary hunter (though recent research reveals this to possibly not be the case). This interest has translated into an interest in Architeuthis, a favorite prey of the sperm whale. He's going to be geeked when he reads this.

Volunteer Blogging: Facts and Figures

I received a suprise email yesterday from the man who was in charge of managing the shelter. He stumbled across my blog and dropped me a line.

Here's what I found ironic. He was very kind in expressing his gratitude for my help. Yet I seem to recall that when I arrived every morning, he was already there, and when I left every evening, he was still there. That seems to indicate to me that he put in some mightly long hours. If you're goinng to be passing out kudos, Joe, better save some for yourself.

But here was the part of the email that most touched me. He's given me permission to publish it here:

I know I am rambling, but I wanted to give you some stats: In the 21 days of shelter operations, we gave over 600 residents a safe place to rest their heads. Over 2100 “non-residents” came into the shelter for services or help. When we closed on Sept. 21 only one person had to go back into a shelter (but only because his apartment was not ready to move into).

That feels really good.

Arrrrr

Thanks for the Memory to The Nightfly.

With my mind still on Katrina last week, I missed the festivities of Talk Like a Pirate Day. But this sorta makes up for it:

My pirate name is:

Dirty Sam Read

You're the pirate everyone else wants to throw in the ocean -- not to get rid of you, you understand; just to get rid of the smell. Even through many pirates have a reputation for not being the brightest souls on earth, you defy the sterotypes. You've got taste and education. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

Both Sides Now

Thanks for the Memory to Ally at Who Moved My Truth for saving me from my own bitterness.

After yesterday's rant on Race and Volunteering, I received a comment from reader Jaybird, who pointed me to an editorial in the Oregonian with more of the same racist drivel, and I was nigh unto the end of my rope. The quality of mercy really was beginning to feel strained, when I popped over to Ally's and found a link to an excellent editorial in FrontPage Magazine from Rabbi Aryeh Spero.

The good Rabbi gets it. He sees what I saw. Read the whole thing.

And I have a response to this concluding statement:

Those who for decades have been accused by elitists of not having compassion are the ones living it. They are: the churches, the military, and the sons and daughters of the South.

Thank you, Rabbi. And you're welcome.

Freudian Slop

Thanks for the Memory to Darth Apathy and Vulture Six who are still Hurricane Blogging.

They have a screen shot captured from the local Houston NBC affiliate's coverage of Tom Delay talking to the press:



MINORITY leader???

A bit of a freudian slip, NBC? Or engaging in some wishful thinking?

Gimme Shelter

Vulture Six is blogging about his hurricane preparations. This time last week I was at his place, and he was my host as I helped Katrina victims. Now he's hosting Darth Apathy, and THEY'RE the potential victims.

You're in our prayers, guys. You deserve to come out of this unscathed.

WHAT Color Cross?????!!!!!

Or "Who is My Neighbor?

Thanks for the Memory to Ravenwood via It Comes in Pints?

Looks like my days of Volunteer Blogging aren't quite over. But this time, it's in response to someone else's observations about us volunteers, not my own experience.

Apparently, Black leaders in Tennessee are complaining that the Red Cross Shelters and their volunteers aren't black enough.

My immediate, most honest, and candid response to this would probably not merit The Headmistress' approval. I'll try to control myself, HM, but if I fail, please understand why.

I don't want to seem oversensitive, but give what I spent ALL last week doing, I can't begin to tell you how hurt and insulted such statements make me feel.

I mean, really. Do you WANT me to go away and not help just because I'm white? Is that REALLY what you want? Am I SO unclean a Samaritan that you'd have your brothers and sisters go without rather than have them sullied by my lilly white hands? Do you know how incredibly racist you sound?

And not just racist, but ignorant.

Searcy says she tried to open up her community center as a shelter, but could not get approved by the Red Cross. It already had a list of 63 churches and community groups.

Searcy adds, “You know that big headline that we were gonna have six thousand evacuees and the list of shelters in the newspaper were in the suburbs and so the question is: why aren't these in our community?”

Well, her answer is in the very next paragraph:

The Red Cross says it’s because the other groups were already on a pre-approved list. Their facilities had already been checked out, and the volunteers, already trained.

But I could have told her that. You see, the shelter where I worked had only been Red Cross certifed a WEEK before Katrina. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a shelter.

But Reverend Enoch Fuzz says in times like this, the volunteer corps should be more diverse,

SO GO VOLUNTEER!!!!!!! The training is open to anyone (as the article mentions), and in some cases, such as Houston, where the evacuee populations was huge, the Red Cross is waiving the training requirement. Look, stop cursing the dark and go light a freaking candle! That's what I did. My local Red Cross was absolutely useless in terms of getting me info on volunteer opportunities, so I took matters into my own hands. I talked to a friend in Houston, he offered me a place to say and told me how open to taking ad hoc volunteers the shelters were, I went to my friends and family and church and got support to get there. At least some of the people in question get it:

The Red Cross acknowledges most of it’s volunteers are white, but says training is open to anyone. Since then, Joyce Searcy went through training, and is signing up others.

A number of black churches are helping evacuees on their own even though it isn't through the Red Cross.

Also they are assembling teams of 50 take turns volunteering at the Red Cross shelters.

One other thing about Reverend Fuzz' comment really irked the... well, it irked me :

“Who in Brentwood would know where a black beauty shop or barber shop is?” asks Fuzz.

WHO CARES????? Is that really what you're worried about? Why not worry about who in Brentwood (Or Champion Forest or Little Rock) knows how to navigate the FEMA website or one of the myriad forms required to get people assistance? Who in Brentwood can and is willing to haul in large boxes of donations and hot meals and empty trash and clean #$%&ing TOILETS and haul laundry and sweep and mop and do all of the menial chores associated with running a shelter?

But if you're really concerned, Rev., maybe the people in your community can do what people in Houston did -- the black barber/beauty shop CAME TO THE BLESSED SHELTER!!!!!! That's right, they came to us, they set up shop and provided FREE haircuts ON SITE -- this despite the fact that they were surrounded by all us scary white volunteers!!!!

Well, except for the black volunteers. And the Vietnamese volunteers. And the French Canadian volunteer. And the Japanese American volunteers. And they provided haircuts to the black evacuees and the white evacuees and the Vietnamese evacuees... get the picture?

See, we were all -- volunteers and evacuees, black, white, men women, too busy DOING SOMETHING to worry about whther or not we LOOKED ENOUGH LIKE EACH OTHER!!!!! I made friends there -- black and white, volunteers and evacuees. And I felt close to all of them. I felt like we all gained from one another. When I think about the sense of purpose, the worthwhileness, the joy that I was blessed with for being there, the warmth and inspiration I gleaned from the shelter residence, and the camaraderie I felt for my fellow volunteers, I can honestly say I got as much as I gave. And I'll be thrice-damned if I'll let anyone tell me I'm not entitled to that just because I'm the wrong color.

*sigh* I almost made it without cursing.

Perspective Burnout

Ever since finishing my last post on my experiences as a volunteer, I'm having a hard time gertting motivsted to blog. I've covered the events of last week in all the detail I care to, and quite frankly, nothing else seems important enough right now to bother blogging about it.